If you’re ready to make the jump to GIMP, you’ll discover things work differently to how they are in Photoshop. But once you find your way around, you’ll be able to unlock GIMP’s power as a graphic design and photo editing tool.

Step 1: Find Your Way Around GIMP

The first thing to do when switching to any new piece of software is to master its interface so you can find your way around quickly. GIMP has long had a reputation for being complicated to use—as it was created by engineers rather than designers—but things have improved in version 2.10.

It’s still different, but the new layout and theme should make it far less alien to Photoshop users.

GIMP 2.10 now opens as a single window, unlike previous versions where each panel was held in its own self-contained window. There’s less ability to customize your workspace than in Photoshop, but you can add tabs to the right hand docks at Windows > Dockable Dialogs.

The Layout

The default layout is clean and accessible. The canvas is in the center. The top left houses the Toolbox, laid out as a grid. This is GIMP’s version of the Toolbar.

Bottom left is the Tool Options dock. This is the equivalent to the Options Bar in Photoshop. The settings differ based on what tool you’ve got selected. It also contains a tab for your graphics tablet, to view Undo levels, and to manage all your open images.

Top right is a dock that you can customize with your own choice of tabs. You can add things like a histogram, swatches, brushes, and fonts.

On the bottom right you’ve got the dock for layers, channels, and paths. This is very similar to what you get in Photoshop. You can choose blend modes and opacity, lock layers, and create masks.

Step 2: Tweak the Settings to Your Liking

Next up, it’s time to change a few settings to help make GIMP function a little more like Photoshop. These are all down to taste, of course, but we’ve picked a few common ones you’re likely to want to get started.

First, go to View > Snap to Grid. This causes all your objects to snap into place when you move them. It makes it much easier to keep things aligned.

Next, go to View > Show Layer Boundary. By default, GIMP shows a yellow dotted line around the edge of your background layer. This turns it off.

Get images to open faster at Edit > Preferences > Image Import & Export > Convert to preferred RGB color profile. Without this, GIMP will ask you which color profile to use every time you open an image.

Finally, clean up the Toolbox by going to Edit > Preferences > Interface > Toolbox and deselecting some of the transform tools. You no longer need them all as the new Unified Transform has combined them into a single tool akin to Photoshop’s Free Transform.

Step 3: Learn the GIMP Keyboard Shortcuts

Learning keyboard shortcuts is an essential way to speed up your workflow. GIMP has lots of them. Some are the same as they are in Photoshop, others aren’t. Here’s a rundown of some of the ones you’ll use most often. If you’re on a Mac, replace Ctrl with Cmd.

There’s a simple solution to this: You can manually set up your own keyboard shortcuts for GIMP actions. Go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to do this.

Step 4: Learn What Tools Are Called

One of the things that has always made the GIMP learning curve seem so steep is that many of the most common tools are named differently than Photoshop’s tools. Not only that, but the names can be pretty obtuse too.

Here’s a quick list of the main Photoshop tools and their GIMP counterparts:

Rectangular Marquee > Rectangle Select

Elliptical Marquee > Ellipse Select

Lasso > Free Select

Magic Wand > Fuzzy Select

Free Transform > Unified Transform

Paint Bucket > Bucket Fill

There’s similar confusion when you’re trying to perform common tasks. The appropriate tools aren’t always found where you’d expect them to be.

You’ll find the tools for post-processing your photos under the Colors menu. And general graphics tools, including text, paths, paint, and colors, are all clumped together under the Tools menu.

Step 5: Understand GIMP File Formats

GIMP saves files in the XCF format by default. There’s a new version for GIMP 2.10 that promises better compression for smaller file sizes, but this is not compatible with older versions of GIMP.

You should be wary of using this format at all if you plan on sharing your file with anyone else. There’s no guarantee that non-GIMP users will be able to open it.

There’s always the option to save your files in a more mainstream format. Go to File > Export, then click Select File Type to see your available options. There’s heaps of supported formats, including PSD for Photoshop.

Click Export once you’ve made your choice.

The GIMP Experience Isn’t Much Different

Now you’re set. Once you get used to GIMP you’ll start to find it becomes a lot more familiar and usable than it first appears. And lots of the smaller navigation tricks you’re used to from Photoshop still work.

Like, you can place guides on your image by dragging down from the rulers, or you can adjust the brush size or other sliders with the scroll wheel or cursor keys.

The biggest difference you’ll have to get used to is that GIMP is undeniably slower than Photoshop. Even fairly basic tasks like filling colors or drawing lines take their time.

Less important, but still noticeable, is the absence of adjustment layers, making non-destructive editing harder to achieve. And some of Photoshop’s smarter features, like content-aware fill, are also missing. You can get plugins to replace these.

Is It Time to Switch to GIMP?

GIMP 2.10 is a decent substitute for Photoshop. Yes, it lacks some of the polish and there’s a bit of a learning curve, but if you want to save some money, or just don’t like Adobe’s subscription model, it’s well worth a look.

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Gold Phoenix

January 16, 2019 at 4:57 am

Actually GIMP 2.10 Does have adjustment layers for non-destructive editing. Also, the speed is much improved since moving to GEGL.
Also the customization is beter than PS. I can drag, drop and position my docks and toolbox width to a single column freeing up even more canvas area.

I had been exclusively a Gimp user for 6+ years, never even touching PS (too expensive for a hobbyist to buy) but when I started doing screenprinting, since Gimp doesn't support CMYK, and I need it to prepare color separations, in now paying monthly for PS pretty much only to use it for that purpose. I'm so comfortable with using Gimp I end up using it 95% of the time for everything.

Andy is a former print journalist and magazine editor who has been writing about technology for 15 years. In that time he has contributed to countless publications and produced copywriting work for large tech companies. He has also provided expert comment for the media and hosted panels at industry events.